Thursday, November 30, 2017

Brain Scan

Jason had gone to the hospital for a routine procedure when his doctor asked if he’d like to participate in an experimental procedure to help a dying patient. He was a little skeptical, but his doctor explained all they needed was a healthy brain scan from him. They’d use his healthy scan to help fill in the gaps for another patient who had been struggling with severe brain damage. They had hopes the healthy scan could be used to copy pathways needed for breathing and other basic functions.

Jason didn’t seem the harm, so he agreed. However, as he was being scanned, it felt like the entire world was glitching. He wanted to scream, but he seemed unable. Everything went black for a moment, and then he woke up in a hospital bed. He looked down to discover a body that was not his own under the sheets -- it was a woman’s!

It was a few days later before he finally got an explanation. The doctors gave him some clothes to wear and brought him to a room in the psychology ward. He nervously bit his finger as they explained it all. His brain had been scanned without incident. His body had returned home to his family that day, safe and sound. And shortly thereafter that scan was used to help a brain damaged woman named Michelle Chang. However, her brain was a little too damaged. Instead of just copying pathways vital for a beating heart and taking breaths, most of Jason’s memories and personality were also copied -- the essence of what made Jason himself. The original Jason in his own body was still out there, normal, and unaware of the fact that there was now a second Jason with the exact same brain patterns inside Michelle’s body. Jason inside Michelle’s body didn’t even know how to take the news. He just sat there blankly, a little afraid and not knowing what to do. The doctors began to offer options...